acortavsacortarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“acorta” and “acortar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,903
“acorta” frequency rank
#26,683
“acortar” frequency rank
73586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acorta acortar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de acortar o de acortarse. Hacer más corto. Disminuir en longitud, extensión, duración, tiempo o cantidad.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set acorta and acortar apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
acorta
7 ch
acortar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. acorta ([aˈkoɾt̪a]) and acortar ([akoɾˈt̪aɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “acorta” sits inside “acortar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acorta is recorded at frequency rank #46,903, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈkoɾt̪a]. acortar is at rank #26,683, tagged as averb, pronounced [akoɾˈt̪aɾ].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 73586, this pair ranks #23,013 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of acorta vs acortar

Shared letters: acort. Private to "acorta": -. Private to "acortar": -.

"acorta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "acortar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acortaaccorta · acorat · acorrta · acortta · acrota · aocrta · caorta
  • acortaraccortar · acoratr · acorrtar · acortarr · acortra · acorttar · acotrar · acrotar

Frequency comparison

acorta#46,903
acortar#26,683

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acorta" and "acortar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈkoɾt̪a] versus [akoɾˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "acorta" or "acortar"?
"acortar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,683 in our Spanish list, against #46,903 for "acorta". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering acorta vs acortar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “acorta” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list